The Spenser Series

The Jesse Stone Series

The Sunny Randall Series

The Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch Series

Young Adult

Sixkill

by Robert B. Parker

A Spenser Novel

An extraordinary new Spenser novel from the beloved New York Times-bestselling author.

On location in Boston, bad-boy actor Jumbo Nelson is accused of the rape and murder of a young woman. From the start the case seems fishy, so the Boston PD calls on Spenser to investigate. The situation doesn't look good for Jumbo, whose appetites for food, booze, and sex are as outsized as his name. He was the studio's biggest star, but he's become their biggest liability.

In the course of the investigation, Spenser encounters Jumbo's bodyguard: a young, former football-playing Native American named Zebulon Sixkill. Sixkill acts tough, but Spenser sees something more within the young man. Despite the odd circumstances, the two forge an unlikely alliance, with Spenser serving as mentor for Sixkill. As the case grows darker and secrets about both Jumbo and the dead girl come to light, it's Spenser-with Sixkill at his side-who must put things right.

Reviews

"Shrewd, sly, ever witty, vigorously athletic Spenser takes him (Sixkill) under his wing to train him at the local gym. Their relationship is funny, raucous, and macho cool...As usual, Parker conjures up his stiletto-sharp dialogue and descriptions, nailing social status fraudulent filks, and various cops with his chilled penetrating wit and clear sardonic eye."Providence Journal

"...told in the spare and insistent prose with crisp and amusing dialogue that Parker fans have enjoyed for decades..."The American Spectator

"Sixkill is quintessential Spenser; less about the crime than the human condition...This ending was utterly perfect. For a man who lived his life in violence, this was so quiet it was lovely. It reminded me of the ending of John Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, when the sergeant rides off into the west, which is the end of the trail for all men. So, too, does Spenser go quietly into the west. Sixkill is Spenser and Parker at their absolute best. Fast-paced action, witty dialogue, erudite, and that philosophical undertone that makes Parker one of the truly great writers of the modern age. This is a book that is not to be missed."Daemon's Books Blog

"Parker's real coup in this novel is introducing us to Zebulon Sixkill, the athletically gifted Cree Indian Spenser rescues from the demeaning job as Jumbo's "driver, booze buddy, and pimp." It's too sad to think about the further adventures these two might have had, so let's just leave Spenser where we found himtasting spring and waiting for the season to open."Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"...typical A-Grade Parker. Things gleaned earlier in the book coalesce when another piece of info triggers a connection, and when that happens, Spenser sets into motion a trap that nets the truth. Plus he has a word or two with the story's true villain...Parker's dialogue, clever to a fault, moves his tales along at a natural, human pace as his characters square off, verbs and nouns used like switchblades."The Chicago Sun Times

"...a treasurable demonstration of the bromide that "life is mostly a metaphor"at least to the peerless private eye and his fans."Kirkus Reviews

"Parker's final Spenser book is a reminder of just how much we'll miss the beloved crime writer, who died in January 2010...When Spenser tells Susan Silverman, "I know what I like and what I don't like, and what I'm willing to do and what I'm not, and I try to be guided by that," readers couldn't ask for a better epitaph for Spenser and Parker."Library Journal

Buy the book

paperback | Berkley | 2012 | ISBN: 9780425246900

Excerpt

1

It was spring. The vernal equinox had done whatever it was it did, and the late March air drifting in through the open window in my of?ce was soft even though it wasn't really warm yet. Spring training was under way in full tiresomeness, and opening day was two weeks off.

I was drinking coffee and studying a new comic strip called Frazz to see if there were any existential implications that I might be missing, when Quirk came in and went to the coffeepot, poured himself a cup, added sugar and condensed milk, and took a seat opposite my desk.

"Care for coffee?" I said.

"Got some," Quirk said. "Nice of you to ask."

"You ever read Frazz?" I said.

"What the fuck is Frazz," Quirk said.

He was as big as I was, which is biggish, and always dressed well. Today he had on a chestnut-colored Harris tweed jacket. His hands were thick, and there was in his eyes a look of implacable resolution that made most people careful with him.

"A comic strip in the Globe," I said. "It's new."

"I'm a grown man," Quirk said.

"And a police captain," I said.

"Exactly," Quirk said. "I don't read comic strips."

"I withdraw the question," I said.

Quirk nodded.

"I need something," he said.

"Everyone says so."

He ignored me. Quirk ignored a lot. He wasn't being impolite. He was merely focused, and I had known for years that he cared very little what other people thought.

"You know about Jumbo Nelson?"

"The actor," I said.

"Yes."

"Here shooting a movie," I said.

"Yeah."

"You guys think he murdered a young woman," I said.

"He's a person of interest," Quirk said.

I looked at him. I'd known him a long time.

"And?" I said.

"Lemme fill you in," Quirk said.

I got up and poured myself more coffee, and warmed Quirk's up. Then I put the pot on the burner, sat down in my chair, and leaned back with my feet up.

"Do," I said.

"Real name's Jeremy Franklin Nelson," Quirk said. "Ever seen him?"

"Seen his photograph," I said. "Never seen a movie."

"Photo's enough," Quirk said. "You can see where the nickname came from."

"Here's what I know," he said. "Girl's name is Dawn Lopata, twenty years old, graduated last year from Bunker Hill Community College, was not employed."

Quirk sipped some coffee.

"More sugar," he said.

He went to the coffeemaker on the ?le cabinet and got some, and stirred it in, and sat back down. He took another sip and nodded.

"She's watching them shoot a scene outdoors on the Common, near Park Street Station, and Jumbo spots her. He sends a production assistant over to invite her to have lunch with him in the commissary. She's thrilled."

"As I would be," I said.

"Yeah," Quirk said. "Me too. So she has lunch with all the stars and the movie crew, and Jumbo gets her phone number and says maybe they can get together later, and she says oh-wow-yes."

"Do you know she said that?"

"The oh-wow-yes?" Quirk said. "No. So he calls her that night and she goes over to his hotel. They drink some champagne. They do some lines. They have sex. When they get through, they get dressed. Jumbo excuses himself for a moment while he goes to the bathroom. And while he's gone she lies back down on the bed and dies."

"I was having sex with Jumbo Nelson," I said, "I might consider it myself."

"It was after," Quirk said.

"Maybe she died of shame," I said.

"There was considerable bruising around the vaginal area," Quirk said.

"Suggesting an, ah, accessory object?"

"ME isn't sure," Quirk said. "Maybe Jumbo really is jumbo."

"Cause of death?" I said.

"ME thinks it's asphyxiation," Quirk said. "They found some ligature marks on her neck. But they don't seem entirely comfortable with how they got there."

"They're not sure?" I said.

"No."

"Aren't they supposed to be sure?" I said.

"For crissake," Quirk said. "One case I had, they lost the fucking body."

"That would be disheartening," I said.

"Was," Quirk said. "Also, when they're not sure, it gives a lot of space for rumors."

"I heard one report that the accessory object was the neck of a champagne bottle and it broke inside her and she bled to death."

Quirk shook his head.

"I know," Quirk said. "No evidence of it."

"I don't think the Internet requires evidence."

"Or knows how to get it," Quirk said.

"How 'bout Jumbo?" I said.

"Says he doesn't know what happened. Admits he was whacked on coke and booze. He says he left her alone and when he came back in the bedroom, he notices she's not responsive. Tries to wake her up. Can't. And calls nine-one-one."